Let Nothing You Dismay
by Steamcraft
Summary: Like every other Christmas in London, only with a new companion.


**Let Nothing You Dismay**  
A _Doctor Who_ Fanfiction  
by Steamcraft

**AN:** AU after season three. 10th & Simm!Master. Pre-slash or friendship.

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LJ Prompt: 092. Christmas.  
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One of these days, the Doctor promised as he tried to gain his breath again, Christmas would be absolutely normal for London, England.

Footsteps scuttled near him and the Doctor glanced to the Master, hands on his knees and out of breath. The blonde Time Lord swallowed, trying to get moister back into his mouth. "Surely...it isn't _every..._Christmas?" he panted. "Gods, I'm about to put holes in the soles with all this running."

The Doctor nodded to the Master's question, clicking on the sonic-screwdriver to find some trail to where the cannibalistic aliens went to. "Well it'd help if you got trainers instead of those sleek things."

"If you can wear a suit, I should be able to look dapper too."

"But you running after aliens in a black and white suit is like..." _watching Men In Black_. And the Doctor really didn't have a taste for that movie, especially after the fourth installment. Gardithions would have been insulted, he knew, and suddenly the Doctor was thankful that they were in a different galaxy in a different set in time. One would never want an angry Gardithion on their tail.

"Har-har," the Master said wryly, making the Doctor realise that he must have opened the telepathic connection first without noticing it. "But I smell them, if you lost track," his companion said, getting back on track. The darker haired Time Lord turned, grinning and pocketing the sonic-screwdriver.

"Good boy! Where?"

The Master took in a deep breath, his hearts finally coming to a normal speed, and holding back the comment about the epidemic on Pantonoma causing hunting dogs to turn on their masters. He quickly sniffed the air, tasting the rotting corpse smell on his tongue of the aliens they were chasing down. "Heading towards the TARDIS," he said, and without prompt, the two of them ran down the nearest alley to make a u-turn to the space and timecraft.

On some main street corner, a row of robotic Santa Clauses played God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen on their horns, and after the Ternplids had been captured and taken to a remote planet several galaxies away, the Master sat in the captain's console seat and toed off his ruined shoes.

The Doctor shut the TARDIS door behind him. "So! Christmas day on Earth!" he said, "We could do presents! Though we'd have to go back to yesterday to buy the gifts for it to be proper... Or! We could go to Snowtopia! Make snowmen and angels, throw snowballs... Actually, that sounds a bit cold." He looked to the Time Lord that wasn't even listening. The Doctor was almost sure he disinterested the Master when he said _Earth_. Some things never change, especially with him.

Instead, casually he said, "Where would you like to go? I'll even let you drive her." The Master's head shot up, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "My Christmas present to you," the Doctor grinned.

"Are you joking, Doctor?"

"Nope! Go ahead!"

The Master jumped from his seat and instantly worked the console controls. Apparently the Doctor had removed the bio-lock and programmed his genetic code into the machine because the TARDIS listened to him easily. He swallowed suddenly, throat tight, and he ducked his head. Surely he had, for once in his long life, done something right to gain the Doctor's trust this much.

"Under the console," the Master said quietly. "Your side."

The Doctor raised a curious eyebrow and bent his arm around the control table's edge. He pulled back his hand slowly, face full of pleasant surprise, as he fisted a small wrapped box.

"When did you get this!"

"The day when I slipped out. I was considering not giving it to you, not with the way you shouted up a storm at me. But it's Christmas, I thought, so why not?"

There wasn't a response from the Doctor until he felt arms wrap around his torso. The Master automatically tried to worm out from the embrace, but the other Time Lord wouldn't allow him. "Thank you," he said. "Happy Christmas, Master."

"Happy Christmas, you bloo-."

"Don't ruin it."


End file.
